The Moments I'm Thankful for as a Person With Autism

I have autism. I’ve had some amazing moments. I got pop singer Elton John’s autograph, got county and pop Shania Twain’s autograph, graduated college; the list goes on and on. I felt after a certain time that I should be grateful I had some of these moments and thank the places that were a part of them. I started to write thank you letters to the venues where some of these moments took place.

I had multiple wonderful moments at an arena in my area. I wrote them a thank you letter telling them about it. That arena is where that Elton John moment happened, my college graduation, and the 900th episode of WWE Smackdown. After I did that, they responded with a letter saying thank you and were grateful that they have been a part of some of my greatest life moments. They also sent free hockey tickets, WWE merchandise, and tickets for another event.

I also wrote a letter to the Warner Bros Studio Tour I visited in California thanking them for the experience. They wrote back saying “glad you enjoyed the tour” and sent a free tour guide. They also said if I already had one, to give it to someone else. I didn’t have one, so I kept it.

If any other people with autism have had amazing moments at a certain place, I encourage you to write them a thank you letter. You never know what it might mean to them!

Louis Scarantino is a young man on the autism spectrum. He grew up in Northeastern Pennsylvania having a tough high school life. He overcame that by attending Luzerne County Community College. He graduated in 2013 cum laude also receiving an award in his major for the Most Outstanding Student in Office Information Technology. He had a dream of meeting his favorite singer Shania Twain during college. He followed that dream by attending a show of hers in Las Vegas in 2013 and going on stage with her. He expressed interest in becoming a writer and motivational speaker right after. He's the author of the book Love is too Hard: The Dating (Mis)Adventures of a Man with Autism as one of his topics he advocates on is Autism and Dating. He also hopes to get a film made about his life one day!